Tag Archives: fun things

Once again, I am a sucker for pop culture reference. I can’t help it — the lack of filtering ability bipolar comes with means I absorb pop culture like a sponge. While it makes for a stupid human trick of remembering all sorts of pointless things, it also eats up a lot of spoonage because it’s hella intrusive.

Anyways.

This week was definitely about seams though — I finished the little sweater! I had to do the sleeves first, which was all sorts of stripy, Freddy Krueger-gone-patriotic cute:

Though I can’t say the same of the darker areas, hee hee. The seaming on the sleeves and shoulders are functional at best, and when I was picking up stitches around the neck, I pulled from the wrong side of the piece. It’s fine functionally, and not horrible visually… hopefully I’ll get it more correct next time. But on the other hand, I sort of got the hang of normal mattress stitching on the sides as well, so it’s all progress in the right direction. I used this video for my side seam guide, if anyone was interested. Even with the sound off (one reason I don’t watch videos on my computer; I dislike it making noise at me ever), the quality of the video and the demonstration makes sense.

The finished product:

The next pattern in the book is a matching hat. I meant to let myself have a break before starting it… but I failed in that regard. I definitely have a full-blown knitting addiction at this stage, hee hee. But then, I also have found myself wondering — perhaps this is seriously the limit of what my spoons can do right now. And in that, I’m maxing out my productivity in a hobby that is fulfilling and not terribly wearying. It doesn’t require nearly as much thought as writing, and it doesn’t necessarily require me to deal with other people (e.g. – social networking, which I think can fairly be considered a hobby).

Or perhaps depression is trying to trap me in an isolation bubble, and I’m enjoying myself too much to keep my guard up. I managed to easily talk myself out of going to the last Stitch ‘n Bitch meeting, though I was basing that on a valid medical reason (slept all day). At work, I’m always in this haze that excludes everyone else. I don’t know whether that’s a depression thing, or a self-preservation thing, but it means that I couldn’t tell you the name of anyone else in that building who I’m not related to (only a slight exaggeration). Having said that, it could just be a side effect of my mind being so wonderfully still by comparison to the before times. So maybe it’s that relaxation thing that I’ve heard so much about, ha ha. I don’t know — I’m just continuing to muck through each day as they come, trying to eke out what enjoyment I can!

I spent all day yesterday knitting, and it was rather glorious. Making myself do this weekly crafting post is a great boot in the butt to encourage me to work hard on developing my skills and completing projects, so definitely hooray for that.

Small practice pieces.

The backs aren’t supposed to be this sort of sloppy.

Yesterday’s specific thing was learning the art of intarsia. Intarsia is basically doing another colour within the main colour, but you’re not supposed to overlap on the back. Which ended up with me having to ask my extraordinarily talented knitting pattern designing friend Miriam Felton about the actual production of intarsia. The pattern for this start in my book called for only three skeins of wool. As you can make out from the back sides, that doesn’t make for the tidiest knitting. She conceded it’s fine to ‘cheat’ that way over say, seven or less stitches, but that it did boil down to needing at least five skeins of wool.

All the skeins!

So I looked at the pattern, and took a deep breath, and dived in. I was really happy that I made a point to do some quick practicing, ’cause the whole twisting wool around each other to make sure the sections of colour interlock smoothly is sort of important. I also made a point to number my impromptu bobbins to help me keep my skeins a bit better organized. Even with the practice, it was a bit unnerving at the start, but by the time I finished the section, I felt that I had a pretty good grasp of the method and results. It doesn’t mean I’m likely to start going ga-ga for colourwork, but it’s certainly less intimidating now.

Front.

The back with the strands not woven in. Pretty tidy, non?

So yes, I’m well pleased with my progress, and to have the basics of yet another part of the knitting thing figured out. I think it’s coming along a lot faster now that I’m a bit stuck into it. That is to say — new techniques are less scary because it all builds in a very basic and solid foundation. Crochet, on the other hand, can be a bit more flowery and confusing. I’m certainly not against crochet and will probably pick up work on my blanket in the near future, but the combination of a good solid foundation and the versatility within that basic foundation are both widely appealing things.

Beyond that, I’m still waiting to come to. I have a sneaking suspicion that I could get up at 5 in the morning, and I’d still not feel human until after noon. I’m sort of alive right now, though my hands are still a bit like arthritic claws wearing boxing gloves. I hope they unfurl soonish — I’d like to pick my knitting back up! It’s not pain, per se, just stiffness. I’m a total baby about anything that makes my hands less than efficient; I like doing things too much to be anything but vexed when they’re not up to the tasks I wish to accomplish.

For now, I shall seek more caffeine, and hope that it being past noon means brain and body will move into some form of functional. I hope everyone out there is having a good day.

I’m getting to the point where my brain starts freaking out and thinking that I’ve been dropped from mental health care. I have yet to receive notification of my next appointment, and while I knew it would be a few months out from the last one… I still figured I would have heard something by now! Having said that, the card seems to show up within a day or two of me reaching this point, so yanno… fingers crossed?

Past that, I feel a growing hankering to consider doing some crochet for spending money one way or the other. I’ve not heard back in weeks from the lady who was interested in hiring me to make some blankets, but I still sort of have this pent up ‘Whee, let’s make!’ going on in the back of my head. I’m working on a big project right now, but there’s a build-up of wool and desire past it. I don’t know what I’d make though, not quite yet. Should I opt to try my hand at design, or just find patterns I like and hork that? Or maybe it’s just me getting caught up in a bit of excitement from doing my best to promote my other crafty friends in their for-profit endeavours. It’s something to think about, at the very least. And as I’ve potentially opened a wool floodgate in acknowledging my mother-in-law’s desire to pick up wool with me in mind… *rubs hands*

For now though… back to le working grind and trying to head off a headache!

Even though I’m still mega-meh and don’t want to do anything, I’m going out in the land of natural light again. And it’s proper bright and sunny today, so this will be… interesting. *chuckles* The irony is it’s to see a local goth band… in sunlight. Yes, the irony amuses me too.

I’m sure the fact that I’m playing two games at the same-ish time makes a statement about my mental health… but as it’s probably an upswing sort of thing, I’m not going to worry too much about it. Instead, I’m going to make another coffee, and get back to it!

I finally broke down and tried Master Controller, and I think I like it. Irregardless, I am going to be Simming up a storm today, because that is what I want to do. This Legacy game is progressing nicely, I am enjoying myself… what more do I really need? Well, maybe more caffeine, but that’s sort of part of the condition of being me. So instead of dredging thinkery, I shall go and enjoy myself.

This weekend, I want to write some letters. I like writing letters; it is an art I hope never fully dies. However, my poor little brain refuses to until I have the ‘right’ notepad. Which means that unless I remember to filch one from my in-law’s house tonight (they wont’ mind – there are others), I won’t be doing any letters this weekend. So here’s hoping that I remember, ’cause yanno… it would be nice to do something slightly more productive than non-stop Simming. And really, that’s all I want to do. I’ll go drag myself through a bath because my hair demands it, but otherwise… Sim foreeeever. I couldn’t tell you if it’s a slump back towards depression (’cause I’m enjoying myself), but there is definitely more flashes of annoyance and lack of focus. So Iunno… I’ll go clean up, and resume what I enjoy for now. It’s what weekends are for anyways, right?

Today is the Eurovision Song Contest, which means I’m getting my party on. For those who are not of Europe, it’s basically a song competition that has nothing to do with talent or talent shows, has been around since the 50s, and in some ways are hilariously politicized. There is a heavy dose of Eurocheese to it though, and it is that in which I delight. If anyone in the States wishes to watch along and have a great laugh, you can do it via the Eurovision.tv website. The contest starts at 8pm here in the UK, so that’s 3pm EDT, or 2pm CDT (the rest of the folks in the States can figure out their own time off of those two ;D). I highly recommend it if you need a laugh – there’s cheese, there’s overly soulful ballads, there’s… well, watch and find out.

As for me, my company will be soon arriving, so I shall sign off for day. Until tomorrow!

No time to talk – there’s monsters to slay! Yes, today is a Diablo 3 day. Providence schemed to let us be home today (had a workman coming in), so I’ve been enjoying playing. Oh sure, it’s a simple game with a simple formula of kill all the things, but you know what? Sometimes, that’s all you need; it’s a formula that works, so while change it? Too many games have gotten too crazy about looking nice and seem to forget that (re)playability is sort of vital to make a customer feel like they’ve gotten their money’s worth. Oh sure, there are people who are contented to be playing a movie, but that’s never been my style of gaming.